The Spark in Review is the week’s news at Allspark in capsule form. This week, new stock photos from TakaraTomy showcased upcoming Masterpiece and Encore releases, some unexpected discarded Power of the Primes concepts were revealed, IDW finally confirmed the 2019 Transformers reboot, and we released a retrospective on Transformers: The Movie in advance of Fathom Events’ September screening.

Toy News and Reveals:

While it’s been a week of relative quiet for new information and reveals from War for Cybertron: Siege, Hasbro has teased that more reveals are coming at Toronto’s Fan Expo Canada at the end of the month, leaving us hoping for a peek at the line’s Decepticons.

Availability of the three Prime Wars Trilogy Amazon exclusive Special Edition Deluxes (as well as the Wave 3 Prime Masters) has been rotating in and out since they hit Amazon. Punch-Counterpunch, Repugnus, and Blast-Off were all in stock on Tuesday and have returned to this status again today, with Punch-Counterpunch still in preorder state. Check out the listings if you’re still working to complete your set; they may not stay in stock long.

DNA Designs’ upgrade kit for Power of the Primes Predaking has been revealed in full color and does not disappoint, completing the Titan-class centerpiece of the Power of the Primes line.

One unexpected reveal of toys that might have been came from Hasbro’s latest “Leaked from Cybertron” video, in the form of early concepts for the Power of the Primes Leader Evolution gimmick before the team settled on the Matrix-empowered leader upgrades. Not only is an unconventional and fun vehicular combination gimmick included, but two of the vehicles involved appear to be the air-vehicle half of the concept design for Prima revealed at HASCON 2017, and a Starscream who shares his alternate mode with Star Saber.

Finally, in a bit of toy news not exactly about toys, a rebranding plan by the Lippincott brand strategy company has been revealed that was produced for Toys R Us in its final months, giving a hint of how the brand might have focused itself in the future if it had survived in the US, UK, and Europe. (Toys R Us of course still exists in Canada under new ownership and continues under existing management in Asia and elsewhere.)

In celebration of the 32nd anniversary of the theatrical release of Transformers: The Movie, and looking forward to Fathom Events’ September screening of the film, we released a retrospective on what for many of us might be one of the most memorable movie experiences of our childhoods.

In the wider galaxy outside Transformers, Patrick Stewart unexpectedly appeared at the Star Trek Las Vegas convention to announce, through a compelling speech about the value and meaning of Star Trek to him and to its fans, his role in a new CBS All Access series. Stewart will be returning to the part of Jean-Luc Picard to continue his story twenty years on, and in an unexpected direction.